The Best Free Software

Looking for the best free programs to run on your desktop with Windows, MacOS, or even over the Web in your browser? Make this your first stop.

For years, PCMag has brought you an ever-bigger, ever-better list of desktop software that will cost you absolutely nothing. As of last year, we shook things up a bit. Instead of an annual look at the best free software, we went monthly.

Since software can cost thousands, you might wonder why and how you can score immensely useful programs for free. This happens for the very good business reason that developers often try to gain traction with the public by giving away their product, or at least a "lite" version of it, in the hope that you'll upgrade to a paid version. It's called the freemium model. Sometimes all they want is a donation. In other cases the programs display ads to keep the money flowing. In the end, by giving it away the developers gain recognition at the very least, if not money straight away. More importantly, it serves you, the user, because you've got access to tools for your computer that rival anything you'd pay for.

We're throwing in all the worthy apps that run on Windows 7 and 8, the latest MacOS, and of course, the cloud-based Web apps that run in a browser like Chrome, Firefox, or IE to use anywhere. We'll let you know which OS each title runs on, and if it has a mobile version you should nab for your smartphone.

Look for a new category of free software titles every month. Be sure to let us know what freebies you'd like to see next, and as always, tell us in the comments section if we missed your favorite.

Eric narrowly averted a career in food service when he began in tech publishing at Ziff-Davis over 20 years ago. He was on the founding staff of Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine (all defunct, and it's not his fault). He's the author of two novels, BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale"--Publishers' Weekly) and KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. He works from his home in Ithaca, NY.
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